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Lying-in Home

Lying-in Home was a term to describe a maternity home from the late nineteenth century, a place ‘for the accommodation of females during their confinement and lying-in’, to quote the Western Australian State Children Act 1907. At a lying-in home, a mother could give birth with the help of a midwife (who might not have…

Approved Children’s Home

Approved Children’s Home was a term applied to Homes that had been certified for the care of children under the relevant state legislation. In Tasmania, under the Child Welfare Act 1960, Approved Children’s Homes were run by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis. The government paid Managers maintenance for each child accommodated in the Home. In…

Group Home

Group Home was a term used in the late 1970s to refer to a Home for children and young people who required ‘therapeutic care’. Group homes could be either scattered (ie in the community) or clustered (located with other group Homes on a campus, usually where there had previously been a children’s Home). This type…

Leprosarium

A Leprosarium was an institution or hospital specifically for people suffering from the disease, leprosy. As leprosy was incurable and infectious, lepers were generally placed in confined and/or isolated places. Institutions for people with leprosy were also called lazarets. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary

Convalescent Home

A Convalescent Home was a place where children were sent to rest and recover from illnesses, or after a stay in hospital. Sometimes the term was used to describe a home for women suffering from sexually transmitted infections (such institutions were also known as Lock Hospitals or Contagious Diseases Hospitals). Click here to see the…

Depot

A depot (or receiving depot) was a type of institution for children. In the nineteenth century and twentieth century, a receiving depot was an institution for the temporary admission of children, from which they would be admitted into a placement in a children’s Home or foster care. Depots also provided short-term accommodation between placements. From…

Board of Management

The Board of Management was a group of appointed or elected persons responsible for overseeing the administration of a non-government children’s Home or other institution. Boards had varying levels of responsibility and might have overseen such aspects as financial management, staffing, applications for admission, health, education, rules and regulations and general maintenance of the institution….

Children’s Home

Children’s Home is a term commonly used during the period from the 1920s to the 1970s to describe children’s institutions, including orphanages. Click here to see the full Find & Connect glossary

Holiday Home

A Holiday Home was an institution designed to provide short-term accommodation for children in need. Some children from other institutions were sent to spend holiday periods at Holiday Homes while staff were on leave. Children were also sent from institutions for temporary stays in private homes during holiday periods. The parents in these homes were…

Juvenile Justice Centre

Juvenile Justice Centre is a term adopted in around the 1990s to describe institutions providing custodial accommodation for remanded or sentenced young people. These places were also sometimes known as juvenile detention centres or youth detention centres. At times, young people have been accommodated in adult prisons. Click here to see the full Find &…